All language subtitles for Krakatoa PBS 1080p HDTV EN

NARRATOR:
January 2005,
and Asia struggles to clear up

after the 2004 tsunami

and come to terms with
the appalling destruction

that claimed the lives of over
250,000 men, women and children.

Tragically, this was not
a one-off event.

These catastrophes
have happened before

and will certainly happen again.

122 years ago,
another natural disaster struck

in the same geologically active
region of Indonesia.

This disaster was not caused
by an undersea earthquake

of the kind that created
December's tsunami,

but by the volcano Krakatoa.

This film is the story
of that eruption,

but it is also an account
of the first tentative steps

towards understanding
the terrible power

of Earth's natural forces.

NARRATOR:
On 27 August 1883,

the uninhabited volcanic island
of Krakatoa

blew itself out of existence
with an explosion

the equivalent power
of 150 million tons of TNT.

( people screaming and yelling )

The eruption was so loud,

the sound was heard over
a 12th of the earth's surface.

The shock waves reverberated
around the entire planet

seven times.

These vibrations are airborne.

It's not coming
through the ground.

This is not an earthquake.

NARRATOR:
This explosion also caused
giant tsunami--

the largest of them, twice
the height of those of 2004.

Oh, dear God.

Turn her into the wave now!

NARRATOR:
These enormous waves

wiped out 165 Indonesian towns
and villages,

killing over 36,000 people.

Within hours,
news of the disaster

was transmitted around the globe

and scientists of the time
struggled to comprehend

the geological forces
that caused the tragedy.

This film reconstructs
the true stories of survivors,

from their accounts and diaries,

to piece together what happened

in the months leading up
to the most famous eruption

of all time.

The eruption of Krakatoa
over 120 years ago

has become a landmark
in our understanding

of how volcanoes affect
our planet.

Mike Rampino is professor of
geology at New York University.

His research
has been instrumental

in discovering why Krakatoa
erupted with such force.

He's returning to Indonesia
for the first time in 26 years.

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa

is one of the most important
eruptions

in the history of... of science,

I think probably
the most important eruption

in terms of the history
of volcanology.

For the first time,

a large explosive volcanic
eruption took place

when there were enough observers
spread around the world,

on land, on ships at sea,

to really get a global synoptic
picture of what happens

when a large volcanic eruption
takes place.

NARRATOR:
Krakatoa's devastation was not
wreaked by the eruption itself,

but like the disaster of 2004,

the massive death toll
was caused by tsunami.

Volcanologist and writer
Bill McGuire,

from Universy College London,
is an expert in tsunami,

but those generated by Krakatoa
in 1883

are of particular interest
to him.

McGUIRE:
No tsunami on the scale
of Krakatoa are known.

I mean, they... these waves were
really quite extraordinary--

I mean, a wall of water
120, 130 feet high,

40 meters high.

At the time,
nobody would have understood

that a volcano which is, at
closest, 25 to 30 miles to Java

would have posed
any problems at all.

I don't think anybody thought it
was going to come and get them,

because they didn't know
about tsunami

certainly as a result
of a volcanic eruption.

NARRATOR:
Indonesia is a group
of thousands of islands

in Southeast Asia.

Two of the largest islands
in this archipelago

are Java and Sumatra;

separating them
is a busy waterway

known as the Sunda Strait.

The volcano Krakatoa lies in the
middle of this stretch of water.

Today, only a remnant can be
seen of the 1883 volcano.

To understand what Krakatoa
was like in 1883,

Mike Rampino has traveled

to the volcanic national park
of Tennger Bromo in East Java.

Indonesia is the most
volcanically active region

on the planet.

The country contains 17% of
the world's active volcanoes.

The view at dawn
from Mount Penanjakan

shows several of these volcanoes

within a few miles
of each other.

This is the jewel of Indonesia,

but it's a beauty born
from brute force.

McGUIRE:
There's a kind of rule
in geology

that the more beautiful
the landscape,

the more dynamic
the processes are

that create those landscapes.

And volcanism is one
of the most dynamic processes

that exists on the planet.

And so we see
these beautiful volcanoes,

these craters with steam
and ash coming out,

and we think how beautiful,
how dramatic, how gorgeous.

But it's what's underlying this,

what's going on underneath
the ground, inside the earth,

that makes this such
a dangerous situation.

NARRATOR:
Indonesia has so many volcanoes
and earthquakes

because of its geographical
position.

The archipelago that starts
in northern Sumatra

stretches over 3,000 miles
south.

It has been created
by the forces

where two of the tectonic plates

that make up the earth's surface
meet.

The ocean floor
of the Indo-Australian plate

and the Asian land mass
of the Burmese continental plate

are in collision.

As they push against each other,

the heavier ocean floor
is forced

underneath the lighter
continental rock.

When these plates or slabs
come together,

one pushes its way down back
into the interior of the earth.

That process
is called subduction.

And as that crust is pushed down

into the hot interior
of the earth, the rock melts,

and some of that melted rock
finds its way

back up to the surface
through fissures and cracks

and erupts at the surface
to form volcanic eruptions.

NARRATOR:
Krakatoa lies directly
above this subduction zone.

Volcanologists
have pieced together

Krakatoa's eruptive history.

In 416 A.D., an ancient Krakatoa
destroyed itself

in a massive explosion.

Over the next 1,200 years,

regular minor eruptions
rebuilt the volcano.

These small eruptions helped
release the pressure created

by the enormous geological
forces beneath the island.

But over time,
a plug of thick, viscous magma

formed in Krakatoa's throat,

preventing the gases and magma
from escaping to the surface.

The eruptions ceased,

and by 1883, Krakatoa was
a time bomb waiting to explode.

Within sight of Krakatoa

were the low-lying and
densely populated coastlines

of West Java
and southern Sumatra.

Situated at the southern tip
of Sumatra was Ketimbang,

just 23 miles north of Krakatoa.

( birds chirping )

( quacking )

In 1883,

Ketimbang was a rural outpost
of the Dutch colonial empire.

For over 250 years,

colonial rule in Indonesia had
effectively reduced the locals

to tenants in their own land.

But an uneasy peace existed

and there seemed little that
would disturb the daily life

of this heavily populated
coastal village.

( man speaking local language )

NARRATOR:
The controller of Ketimbang
was Willem Beyerink.

As a Dutch official,

he was responsible for enforcing
colonial law and order.

( speaking local language )

NARRATOR:
Each morning,
he would hold a clinic

for the administration of
the affairs of the local people.

Beyerink was well versed
in a number of skills

including Islamic law,
local languages

and rudimentary geology.

( chirping )

With the local
Indonesian population

serving as an extensive
workforce,

Mrs. Beyerink ran a large
colonial household

with numerous staff.

His name iJanni.

He's very beautiful.

( cooing )

NARRATOR:
Krakatoa had been dormant
for over 200 years,

but forces deep beneath
the earth's surface

were about to wake
this sleeping volcano.

By March 1883, subtle
warning signs of the danger

that lurked below the volcano
were felt on the surface

as faint tremors undetectable
to human senses.

( bird squawking )

What's the matter
with you?

( squawking, cage rattling )

What is it?

What are you so
upset about, Jake?

Shh, shh, shh, shh.

There, now.

NARRATOR:
Near Ketimbang lived fisherman
and village elder Ajip.

Ajip was one of
the local spiritual leaders

who acted as guardian to
traditional Indonesian beliefs

passed from generation
to generation.

( drum and pipe playing )

Although regarded as pure
superstition by the Dutch,

the local belief
was that the volcano Krakatoa

was home to the fearsome
fire-breathing god, Oran Alijeh.

( drum beating )

When Krakatoa had erupted
in the past,

it was because Oran Alijeh was
angry, and Ajip was convinced

that one day soon
the volcano would erupt again.

Across the Sunda Strait
on the west coast of Java,

a series of lighthouses
had been erected

to help navigate the waters.

The closest to Krakatoa

was Fourth Point Lighthouse
at Anger.

As its recently appointed
keeper,

Toemang would be one of the
first to witness the beginning

of the eruption.

( Toemang conversing
in local language )

He was married, with a son.

( family conversing )

( chuckling )

Passing even closer to Krakatoa

was the Dutch
government steamer

the Gouverneur-Generaal Loudon

that regularly crossed
the Sunda Strait.

The ship was under the command
of Captain T.H. Lindeman.

The captain and crew
of the Loudon

would be the witnesses closest
to Krakatoa's eruption.

83 miles east of Krakatoa
on the north coast of Java

is the port of Jakarta.

Today Jakarta is a busy hub
for shipping in the Far East,

but in 1883
the city was the capital

of the Dutch East Indies.

Holland had been
a dominant force

in the commerce
of the spice routes.

Oriental spices and raw
materials were highly prized,

and in the name of profit

the Dutch
ruthlessly exploited Indonesia,

exporting everything
from gold, rubber and sugar

to cinnamon, pepper and timber.

Large numbers of trading ships

would travel back and forth
to Europe.

Each one would dock in Jakarta--

or Batavia,
as it was then known.

In 1883 Dr. Van der Stok

was the director of the Magnetic
and Meteorological Observatory

in Batavia.

He was responsible for
monitoring seismic activity

throughout Indonesia,
and his observations

of the early stages
of Krakatoa's eruption

would help modern volcanologists
understand

why the volcano exploded
with such force.

Also stationed in Batavia
was J. Schurmann,

an energetic young geologist

with a basic understanding
of volcanology.

Schurmann's expedition
to Krakatoa

would provide a firsthand
account of the erupting volcano,

as well as valuable samples
of pumice.

( knocking )

Schurmann.

Director.

Have you come to
return my books?

Ooh, I've not quite
finished with them yet.

You know
the 11th commandment...

I find ten hard enough.

"All books borrowed
must be returned

on pain of hellfire."

Is God a librarian?

Well, if he was,
you'd be struck down dead

where you stand.

I was wondering
if you had anything

on animal behavior.

There's an old
Japanese story
about catfish.

They behave oddly
just prior to
an earthquake.

Really.

Well, you've seen
for yourself how dogs

and domestic animals
become disorientated

just before
a thunderstorm.

I don't believe
I have anything
on the subject.

That only goes to show
there's a book to be
written on it.

Just think--
animal behavior could be used

to predict the weather,
even earthquakes.

I've heard that the Chinese
use grasshoppers.

If we could relate the results
of your instruments

with observed changes
in animal behavior...

Enough. This is hardly science.

Of course this is science!

Everything is science.

( sighs )

NARRATOR:
In the 1800s,
science and technology

were marching mankind
into the modern era,

and the public's curiosity
about the natural world

was at an all-time high.

McGUIRE:
The Victorian age

is a great age
of discovery and observation.

Everyone was keen
on recording things,

natural phenomena.

So barometers existed
in gentlemen's clubs here, there

and everywhere.

People were very interested
in the weather in particular,

and so these different measuring
devices started to crop up

all over the world,
and that was fortuitous

because it meant when the
eruption actually happened

not only could the events be
recorded in Indonesia itself

but the distant effects

could be recorded
right across the planet.

Well, that all seems
in order.

Thank you.

Anna.

I thought we might take
a walk this afternoon.

I'm rather busy.

I know, but I can hardly wait
until you're not busy, can I?

Then I would wait forever.

Well, perhaps tomorrow, hmm?

Oh, no, I can't.

I have a report
to write.

I have to get it off
to Batavia tomorrow.

And if your report
is one day late...

will it matter?

Why can't you accept
that I have a job to do?

( rumbling )

NARRATOR:
As controller of Ketimbang, one
of Beyerink's responsibilities

was to report large tremors
to his superiors in Batavia.

But having no clue
where the tremor had come from

or what had caused it,
he was unaware of the danger

that lay only 23 miles
out to sea.

( key clicking )

Just before midnight
on the 9th of May, 1883,

intense pressure building
deep beneath the earth's crust

broke through
the line of weakness

directly below Krakatoa.

Magma moving towards the surface

split the crust apart,
creating a large tremor.

( rumbling )

( wind howling
as rumbling continues )

What the lighthouse keeper
witnessed is now recognized

as the first
documented warning sign

of the beginning
of Krakatoa's 1883 eruption.

McGUIRE:
In May 1883,

the lighthouse keeper here
at the Fourth Point Lighthouse

actually saw the sea sort of go
flat calm just for an instant,

and he would have thought
this was rather strange.

Now, what he was seeing then

was the result of fresh magma
actually breaking rock

on its way from deep down
within the crust to the surface.

When that happens,

when the rock breaks
it generates earthquakes,

and as those earthquake waves
travel through the sea,

they cause it to freeze,
if you like.

It's the same thing that you see

when depth charges explode
beneath the suace,

and so that's what
he would have seen.

He would have seen
a normal behavior of the waves.

Then they would have frozen
for an instant,

and then they would
have carried on again,

and that would have been,
obviously, rather odd to him.

NARRATOR:
To momentarily freeze the waters
of the Sunda Strait

required incomprehensible
geological forces.

After 200 years of dormancy,

Krakatoa was about to wake
from its slumber.

In the early 1800s,
the volcanic island of Krakatoa

had been used by the Dutch
as a penal colony.

The island had also served
as an outpost

for naval reconnaissance

But by 1883

Krakatoa was uninhabited and
only frequented by fishermen,

who used the surrounding waters
as a rich hunting ground,

and the fertile jungle
for timber to build their boats.

But all that
was about to change.

( rumbling )

11 days after the tremor
at the lighthouse,

in the early morning
of the 20th of May,

the tranquil island of Krakatoa
burst into life.

Intense pressure building
beneath the most northern crater

was finally released.

( rumbling and exploding )

What's happening?

There, Captain.

Dear God.

Hold this course
as best you can.

Captain.

NARRATOR:
The initial eruption

was witnessed by people aboard a
dozen ships in the Sunda Strait,

including Captain Lindeman on
the Gouverneur-Generaal Loudon.

Moments after the eruption,

shock waves were felt
23 miles north in Ketimbang.

( dog barking, earth rumbling,
baby crying )

( dog barking )

Minutes later, the blast was
felt 83 miles away in Batavia.

The shock wave was registered in
Dr. Van der Stok's observatory.

Among his many instruments

was a magnetic declinometer
fitted with floating needles

that were so sensitive they
detected the tiniest movements

through the ground
or through the air.

Using the readout
from the declinometer,

Dr. Van der Stok deduced he
was dealing with an air blast

caused by an explosion
nearly 100 miles away.

( knock at door )

SCHURMANN:
Did you register
a tremor?

Does that correlate
with your instruments?

It's not an earthquake.

Take a look at this.

The needle has
been moving

in a vertical plane.

These vibrations
are airborne.

It's not coming
through the ground.

It is not an earthquake.

Then volcanic.

I think so.

At last!

I have always wanted
a volcano.

What do we have
on the subject?

NARRATOR:
But even Van der Stok
could not have predicted

the scale of devastation
Krakatoa would wreak.

Because he witnessed
the eruption firsthand,

Captain Lindeman's log
now forms a vital part

of a body of information
about the eruption.

LINDEMAN:
"On the 20th of May
at 10:30 in the morning,

a volcanic eruption was observed
on the island of Krakatoa."

"We saw from the island a white
cumulus cloud rising fast.

"It rose almost vertically
until after about half an hour,

"it had reached 11,000 meters.

"Here it started to spread
like an umbrella,

"as it had reached the height
of the westerly winds.

Soon, only a small part of blue
sky was seen on the horizon."

NARRATOR:
This initial eruption, however,
was only the prelude

to a far greater explosion
yet to come.

( Krakatoa rumbling )

Krakatoa had finally woken
from its slumber.

NARRATOR:
Volcanologist Mike Rampino
is crossing the "Sea of Sand"--

a vast volcanic plain--

on his way to one of the most
active volcanoes in Indonesia.

Mount Bromo has many
similarities to Krakatoa.

It is fueled by magma
generated from the friction

of the Indonesian
subduction zone,

and its crater is approximately
the same size as Krakatoa's.

But Bromo continuously releases
the pressure beneath it

and is known to have erupted
50 times in the last 200 years,

and so never on the scale
of Krakatoa in 1883.

RAMPINO:
The initial eruption of Krakatoa
on May 20, 1883 was typical

for the beginning of
an explosive volcanic eruption.

There was a sudden explosion

and a rise of a column
of ash and steam and gas,

in this case, very rapidly,
up to a height

of about 30,000 feet
above sea lel.

What had happened
is a viscous plug

of congealed magma and rock
was sitting

in the throat
of that volcano for 200 years,

and finally the pressure
below it built up

to the point
where the rock cap broke.

That released the pressure

on the magma chamber
inside the volcano,

and that's like popping the cork
on a champagne bottle.

In fact, it's like shaking up
a champagne bottle first

and then popping the cork.

( rumbling loudly )

This violent eruption
was the opening salvo

for a series of eruptions
that were to take place

over the next few months.

( explosion )

( clicking )

NARRATOR:
As eyewitness reports
of the eruption

flooded into Batavia,

the authorities ordered
Willem Beyerink,

as the closest official
to the volcano,

to go to Krakatoa

and report on the scale
of the volcanic explosion.

The following morning, Beyerink
and the local fisherman Ajip

began their journey
to the island of Krakatoa.

The volcano that normally
dominated the horizon

was now invisible, shrouded in
clouds of acrid sulfurous gas.

Their progress
was painfully slow.

( coughing )

Stop! Stop!

( explosion )

BEYERINK:
Turn around!

( speaking local language )

NARRATOR:
Although Beyerink
had only ventured

within sight of Krakatoa,
it was clear to him

that the volcano was now
a serious threat.

( telegraph clicking )

NARRATOR:
On his return, a concerned
Beyerink wired a report

of the eruption
to Dr. Van der Stok

at the Magnetic
and Meteorological Observatory

in Batavia.

The governor general
was immediately informed.

By the 27th of May, 1883,

the large eruptions on Krakatoa
had abated.

During this relative lull
in activity,

an eerie calm now shrouded
the mountain.

Driven by scientific curiosity,

Schurmann and Van der Stok set
foot on Krakatoa to investigate.

As they began their ascent up
the slopes of the active crater,

they saw that large areas
of the once forested island

now lay charred and smoldering.

What could have done this?

These trees have been
completely flattened
by some immense force.

The entire forest
has been stripped bare.

What do you make of it?

Well, it's as if some
superheated whirlwind

has torn down
the mountain.

It's remarkable!

Indeed.

NARRATOR:
Schurmann's report
to the authorities

now provides invaluable evidence

of the devastation
on the island.

SCHURMANN:
"Following in the footsteps

"of the bravest, or perhaps
the most foolhardy,

"we climbed the bare hills,

"which did not offer
any obstacles

other than the loose ash."

( men coughing )

"Horrible was the view of that
somber and empty landscape,

which portrayed itself as
a picture of total destruction."

"Foul-smelling smoke
permeated the landscape,

causing us to gag."

"In addition to the smoke,

"one also recognized amongst the
gaseous products sulfuric acid,

which made itself known
by its smell."

NARRATOR:
The samples collected
by the expedition

are now a vital record
of the volcanic material

ejected by Krakatoa
in the early stages of eruption.

I expect this is
what Hell looks like.

( muffled explosion )

( explosion )

We should be
getting back.

I want to see
the crater.

We don't have
the time.

I'm going up there!

Schurmann, no.

You've become too comfortable,
stuck in your observatory.

Come on!

( chuckles ):
Come!

Come on!

Not too far
now, Doctor.

Not too far.

SCHURMANN:
"Soon every sign of vegetation
disappeared

and all we could see was
the roaring column of smoke."

"We climbed the last hill

and we were standing at the
steep edge of the crater wall."

( lava roiling )

Who thought Hell
could be so beautiful?

( laughing )

You really are quite mad,
Schurmann, aren't you?

( both laughing )

NARRATOR:
Schurmann and Van der Stok
believed

that the worst of the eruption
was over.

Little did they know
that in three months' time,

the entire island of Krakatoa

would have blown itself
out of existence.

NARRATOR:
Volcanologist Mike Rampino

is at the lip of the crater
of Mount Bromo in East Java.

Bromo's crater is a similar size

to the one Schurmann
would have seen on Krakatoa.

RAMPINO:
Schurmann, in a sense, was one
of the first volcanologists.

At that time,
volcanology was in its infancy

and we didn't know much about
the behavior of volcanoes.

And, in fact,
the study of Krakatoa

was the first real study
of a volcano

that began
to give us information

about how volcanoes work.

And Schurmann actually did
a very valuable thing

by collecting samples
of the material

that had been erupted
by the volcano

during its earliest stages
of eruption.

( camera shutter clicks )

Clearly, when Schurmann
walked across Krakatoa,

he should have known that it was
a dangerous place to be.

NARRATOR:
Schurmann's party
had no real understanding

of just how dangerous
their expedition had been.

Today, volcanologists like
Mike Rampino fully understand

the deadly forces that had
stripped the slopes of Krakatoa,

forces known
as pyroclastic flows.

RAMPINO:
They were quite lucky
to be there during a time

when the volcano
was less active,

because the area
had been devastated

by pyroclastic flows
and surges--

hot mixtures of ash and gas.

( rumbling loudly )

NARRATOR:
Krakatoa's first eruption

had thrown fine particles of ash
high into the atmosphere,

but the real danger lay closer
to its flanks.

Heavier material had cascaded
down the sides of the volcano

as superheated debris.

( rumbling loudly )

Anything standing in the way
of this pyroclastic flow

would have been incinerated
instantly.

( plucking stringed instrument )

NARRATOR:
By the end of May 1883,

Krakatoa, the volcano
that had violently awoken

after 200 years,
returned to relative calm.

For three months
after Schurmann's expedition,

all that was noticed
on the island

was a continuous plume of smoke
and the occasional rumble.

Because of the widespread belief
that the eruption was over,

life in the coastal communities

of West Java and southern
Sumatra returned to normal.

( moped motors humming )

McGUIRE:
It's fairly common
during many explosive eruptions,

during the early stages that...
that you get some activity

and then things
quieten down again.

This is the really dangerous
thing about explosive eruptions.

It's almost impossible
to predict

when the climax is going to .

In the case of some eruptions,
it can come within a week.

In the case of Krakatoa, it came
months after activity started,

and there's a danger always

that once activity has died
down, people are going to say,

"Well, that's it,
let's forget about it,

everything's...
we're all safe now."

But that often isn't the case.

NARRATOR:
Along the coastlines of
West Java and southern Sumatra,

the morning of Sunday,
the 26th of August, 1883,

was as any other.

( thunderous explosion )

( explosions continue )

At six minutes past 1:00

on the afternoon of Sunday,
the 26th of August, 1883,

all three craters on
the volcanic island of Krakatoa

erupted in a massive volley
of explosions.

The enormous pressure
that had been building

for hundreds of years

was suddenly released.

( explosions cracking )

What was to become the most
devastating volcanic event

in recorded history...

had begun.

The densely populated
communities

living within sight of Krakatoa,

on the coastal areas of
West Java and southern Sumatra,

now had only hours before
the full force of the volcano

would devastate the area.

McGUIRE:
Once the volcano really
started getting going

at lunchtime on the 26th,

things were going to go
from bad to worse.

There were big explosions
every ten minutes or so,

and these merged together to
form a column of ash and debris

which extended up to something
like 25 kilometers, 18 miles,

into the atmosphere.

( rumbling )

There was heavy ashfall,

there was a lot
of pumice falling

on ships out in the straits,

and by late afternoon
everywhere was pitch black

and you probably
could hardly see

your hand in front of your face.

You would have had
earthquakes going on,

accompanying these explosions.

At the same time,
you would have been having

these flows of hot debris--
called pyroclastic flows--

entering the sea,

and the sea would have been
getting increasingly agitated.

( thunderous explosions )

NARRATOR:
The ship closest to Krakatoa
that afternoon,

just 12 miles away,

was the Gouverneur-Generaal
Loudon.

Keep her away
from the coast!

( straining ):
We mustn't be drawn
inland!

NARRATOR:
Hot, sticky volcanic ash fell
from the dark clouds

smothering the ship.

Get that paraffin off the deck
before it explodes!

Overboard-- all of it!

Overboard! Overboard!

NARRATOR:
The heavy rain of ash and pumice
spread 23 miles north

to Ketimbang
in southern Sumatra.

McGUIRE:
They would have experienced
the ash starting to drift down,

and then maybe sort of
pellet-sized bits of pumice

and bigger bits of pumice
falling.

And, generally,
just this increase

in the amount of material
falling out of the sky.

When it got really dark,
when the ashfall was so heavy

that you couldn't really
see anywhere,

then you would have...

I think temperatures
would probably have risen

because beneath
very heavy ashfall

it does get very sticky
and muggy, and you can...

It's not hot, but it is warm,

and they would have
experienced that.

NARRATOR:
At 5:30 the following morning,

the first of four
truly cataclysmic explosions

occurred on Krakatoa.

The volcano erupted,
literally ripping itself apart

in an explosion
equivalent to the power

of a thousand atomic bombs.

Why this small volcanic island
in the Indonesian archipelago

exploded with such ferocity

has puzzled volcanologists
for almost a hundred years.

In order to answer
that question,

Mike Rampino is on his way
to Krakatoa,

to the only part of the volcano
that remains today--

the island of Rakata.

Rampino first visited Krakatoa
in 1979

to pick over the remains
of the eruption

in search of vital evidence.

He's now returning
with local guide Samsul

to confirm his latest theory.

RAMPINO:
The first time I was here
with a group of scientists,

we were looking at
the pyroclastic deposits,

the pumice deposits,
of the 1883 eruption

specifically to try
and figure out

what the triggering
mechanism was

for the enormous explosion
that took place in August 1883.

NARRATOR:
The initial theory to explain

the extreme violence of
Krakatoa's eruptions was that

seawater seeped inside
the volcano,

and mixed with the magma
to create the huge explosions.

This theory did not
stand up to scrutiny.

RAMPINO:
We were testing the idea

that seawater got into
the volcanic vent

and that's what caused
the explosion.

What we found was that usually
those kinds of eruptions

have very, very fine-grained
pumices.

The pumices are fragmented
by the reaction with the water.

And here at Krakatoa,

I've seen that the pumices
are rather large.

And so the lack of
fine-grained material suggests

that it wasn't seawater
getting into the vent

that triggered the eruption.

NARRATOR:
If seawater didn't trigger
these huge explosions, what did?

Hidden in Rakata's dense jungle
are thick layers of pumice

ejected from the volcano
in 1883.

This volcac rock is
a permanent record

of what happened
deep beneath Krakatoa

and explains why it erupted
with such exceptional violence.

Here we could find
huge charcoal

and also pumice everywhere.

Here.

Here's one.

Good, thanks.

Oh... this is
really big pumice.

Huge pumices.

Wow...

RAMPINO:
And the charcoal
here,

trees that were killed
by the ash.

So, a beautiful sequence
of pumices.

Finer grain...

another pumice layer,
but small pumices

and then the pyroclastic
flow deposits

going all the way to
the top of the outcrop.

SAMSUL:
Jeez, like this?

Yes.

The whole eruption sequence,
you can see it here.

NARRATOR:
Molten rock lying inside
Krakatoa's magma chamber

for 200 years of dormancy

was light in color
and cool in temperature.

After the initial eruption
in May,

the magma chamber was
part emptied

and that void was filled from
below by dark-colored magma

that was extremely hot
in temperature.

It was a lethal cocktail.

As the two mixed together,

the intense heat
of the dark magma

created huge amounts of gas
that expanded,

eventually creating
enough pressure

to cause the volcano to erupt
with terrifying force.

So this is
the mixed pumice.

It's got the light material
and the dark material--

two different kinds of magma--

that triggered
the 1883 eruption.

This light-colored magma was
sitting there for a long time

in the magma chamber.

And then this dark-colored stuff
came in from the bottom,

heated it up
and caused it to overturn,

and for the gas to begin
to come out of the magma

and the pressure built up.

And that's what caused
the volcanic eruption, yes.

Yes.

( explosions )

NARRATOR:
This mixing of two magmas
beneath Krakatoa

was the direct cause
of the massive explosions.

But when combined with
the volcano's unique position

in the Sunda Strait,

these explosions generated
a series of giant tsunami.

Some would be the largest waves
ever witnessed.

( bubbling )

At 6:44 on the morning
of the 27th of August, 1883,

the second massive eruption
occurred on Krakatoa.

Pyroclastic flows
of dense material

cascaded down
the flanks of the volcano,

and immense submarine slides
generated giant shock waves

in the surrounding ocean.

In the Sunda Strait,
the shock waves were witnessed

as huge crests of water.

Dear God.

Turn her into the wave, now!

As fast as you can!

Lash yourselves down!

NARRATOR:
When these first waves reached
the coastline of Java,

they slowed and reared up
to enormous height,

revealing the full horror
of a tsunami.

( shouting in local language )

NARRATOR:
Today, all that's left
of the Fourth Point Lighthouse

are the remains
of its foundations,

a six-foot-thick brick buttress.

Despite its obvious strengths,

the structure was
unable to survive

the enormous force
of the tsunami.

McGUIRE:
The lighthouse seemed as if
it was going to survive,

but then it was hit
by a block of coral

estimated to weigh
something like 600 tons,

which had been scraped up
from the seabed

and which had crashed into
the base of the lighthouse.

And it looked as if
it separated the lighthouse

from its base,

and the whole thing toppled over

and it was then broken up
and carried off in the water.

NARRATOR:
Two years after the destruction
of the Fourth Point Lighthouse,

a new one was built,
just yards from the original.

McGUIRE:
The new Fourth Point Lighthouse,

it's 40 meters high,

which is just about the height
of the largest wave.

And looking down from here,
it's almost unbelievable

that you could get a wave
of that height.

It would have completely trashed
the whole region.

I mean, a wave of 40 meters...

And, remember,
this isn't just like

a single wave that crashes
onto a beach.

Tsunami have very long
wavelengths,

so the waves can be
hundreds of meters

or several kilometers long.

So they come in
as a wall of water,

and that wall just keeps
coming--

and it would have just wiped out
everything entirely.

NARRATOR:
A total of 19,600 Javanese died

on this stretch of coastline
alone.

These black-and-white
photographs of the destruction

taken over 120 years ago

are, sadly,
all too familiar today.

McGUIRE:
The 2004 tsunami was
more destructive

in the sense that it killed
more people over a large area,

and that is because
such a big area of seabed

was jolted upwards
and that sent these waves out.

The waves generated
by the Krakatoa eruption

were much, much bigger, but
they lost energy very rapidly,

so they didn't travel
any great distances.

NARRATOR:
The Fourth Point tsunami

stripped the sand
from the beaches

and destroyed everything
in its path.

It seemed like
the end of the world...

but worse was yet to come.

McGUIRE:
The morning of the 27th

must have been
absolutely appalling,

particularly after the...

these gigantic explosions
have started

and after the first great waves
had destroyed

many of the communities
along the coast of Java

and southern Sumatra.

people had already...
many people had already died,

others were terrified.

and I think people by then must
have begun to wonder,

you know, is this
the end of the world?

Is this just affecting us here

or is everybody
experiencing this?

NARRATOR:
At two minutes past 10:00

on the morning
of the 27th of August, 1883,

Krakatoa exploded once more,

this time
with such extreme intensity

that it was heard over
a 12th of the earth's surface.

The sound of the detonation
was carried 2,000 miles south

to Perth, Australia, and 3,000
miles west to Rodriguez Island

in the Indian Ocean.

It remains the longest distance
traveled by any airborne sound

in recorded history.

McGUIRE:
This is the climax

of the whole eruptive sequence,

one of the loudest noises--
if not the loudest noise--

ever heard by modern humans.

( rumbling and thundering )

NARRATOR:
When Willem Beyerink,
the controller of Ketimbang,

witnessed this huge eruption,

he realized that the explosion
would produce

a tsunami of enormous size.

( people yelling )

Anna!

( Anna calling out )

( parrot squawking )

( baby crying )

NARRATOR:
The tsunami generated
by Krakatoa

would travel across
the Sunda Strait

at approximately
60 miles per hour,

taking just 20 minutes to travel
the 23 miles to Ketimbang.

( people yelling )

Anna!

( baby crying )

Anna!

Thank God, thank God!

We have to get
to higher ground.

NARRATOR:
Fortunately for the Beyerinks,

Ketimbang was situated at
the foot of Mount Rajabasa.

( baby crying )

( screaming and yelling )

( baby crying )

NARRATOR:
The Beyerinks escaped
the clutches of the tsunami

by climbing the slopes
of Mount Rajabasa

to 400 feet above sea level.

( Anna coughing )

NARRATOR:
By mid-morning
on the 27th of August,

8,038 people had died
around Ketimbang.

( baby continues crying )

Leaving death and destruction
in its wake,

the tsunami funneled up
the Lampong Bay,

continuing to slow in speed
and gather in height.

( engine chugging softly )

McGUIRE:
Tsunami are all incredibly
affected by topography

and they will get funneled
by bays, by estuaries,

by harbors et cetera,

and that happened here
in Lampong Bay.

The wave devastated the entire
low-lying region

around the bay here.

The fishing communities
on Sumatra

would have had no chance at all.

The wave that came up this bay
was 24 meters high--

you're talking
maybe 80 or 90 feet high.

This would have been
a wall of water

which just continued to come
inland for several minutes.

There would have been
no chance to survive

unless you were closer
to high ground

and could actually
make a run for it--

because the waves
would be traveling

as fast as a sprinter could run,

and most people wouldn't have
a chance of outrunning that.

NARRATOR:
At the head of the Lampong Bay,

lying directly in the path
of the tsunami,

was Telok Betong, the largest
port in southern Sumatra.

The entire town was washed away,
killing a further 2,263 people.

This is the mouth
of the River Koeripan,

which is at the head
of the Lampong Bay.

It's an excellent example

of what Telok Betong
would have looked like

after the tsunami
had funneled up the bay

and then gone back out again--

a scene of complete devastation,
really,

mud covering everything,
trees sheered off

so that all you see
are the stumps sticking up

and no sign at all
of human habitation.

NARRATOR:
In the harbor at Telok Betong

was the Dutch government
steamship the Berouw.

Its mooring buoy now lies as a
forgotten monument to the dead.

This is the only memorial

for the Indonesian victims
of Krakatoa.

With similar power
to the 2004 tsunami,

the wave generated by Krakatoa

picked up the steamship Berouw
and her crew of 28

and carried them inland.

Their final resting place
can be found

almost two miles up
the River Koeripan.

McGUIRE:
The Berouw was already suffering

because the seas
were getting very agitated.

And then, a big tsunami tore
the ship from its mooring buoy

and dumped it
up this river here.

This is where it all ended

for the Berouw
and her 28 dead crewmen,

1.8 miles up
the Koeripan River,

about 30 feet above sea level.

When the boat was found,

which was about a month
after the eruption,

it was actually
in very good condition.

It was stretched across
the river here.

It was full of ash and mud,

but its engines
were in working order,

and if it could have been
got back to the sea

it could have actually been
seaworthy again.

But its real fate was much more
ignominious than that.

It just sat here rusting away
for many decades,

virtually disappearing
after 50 years or so.

Its huge boiler remained behind

until that was washed down
in a flash flood in 1979

and finally cut up for scrap.

( rumbling )

NARRATOR:
At 10:45 on the morning
of the 27th of August, 1883,

the fourth and final eruption
tore Krakatoa apart.

When the ash and smoke cleared,

the shell of the volcano
had collapsed

beneath the surface of the water
into the empty magma chamber.

All that was left was
a remnant of the volcano

known as Rakata,

and the existing islands
of Verlaten and Lang.

One of the last casualties
of Krakatoa

was the Beyerinks' child.

Burnt, choked by ash
and poisonous gas,

the baby eventually
succumbed to the trauma.

Madame.

( Anna screams and cries )

NARRATOR:
Reports following the eruption

reveal that the lighthouse
keeper miraculously survived

the tsunami.

His wife and child did not.

Despite his personal tragedy,

records show that Toemang
stood by his post,

performing his duty as keeper,

warning passing ships
in the Sunda Strait.

Captain Lindeman and the crew of
the Gouverneur-Generaal Loudon

also survived the ordeal.

( clicking )

Within hours
of the final eruption,

the dramatic news was being
transmitted around the world.

The names and obituaries
of the 37 Europeans who died

were widely published,

but the names of the thousands
of Indonesian victims

were never recorded

and their personal details
have been lost in time.

In total, 36,417 people died

and 165 towns and villages
were destroyed.

It remains to this day

the largest known death toll
from any volcanic eruption.

McGUIRE:
Most of those deaths resulted

from water, from the oceans,
from the tsunami,

not from the direct effects
of hot rock.

And that's something that
many people don't appreciate

about volcanic eruptions,
even today,

that the... the big killers
include tsunami

and include things
like volcanic mud flows.

And, in fact, a number
of the great disasters--

volcanic disasters--
have been caused

by these relatively
indirect effects.

( rumbling )

NARRATOR:
But it wasn't just Indonesia
that was changed by Krakatoa.

11 cubic miles of rock and ash

had been blasted
into the atmosphere,

and for many years after 1883

the effects of the eruption
would be felt around the world.

RAMPINO:
If you add up all the material
that was erupted by Krakatoa

and brought it to Manhattan,

you could cover the island
of Manhattan

to a depth of about 200 feet.

That's the volume
of material ejected

during the massive phase of
the Krakatoa eruption in 1883.

NARRATOR:
No atomic bomb blast
can rival the sound

that the final eruption made.

The shock waves
from the explosion

reverberated around the globe
seven times

and were still detectable
five days later.

McGUIRE:
Very few people appreciate

how cataclysmic volcanic
eruptions can be

and, in fact, 500 million people
live within the danger zones

around active volcanoes today.

That's more than one in 12
of the earth's population.

But the thing is,

volcanoes aren't always going
to sit there looking pretty.

Every now and again

they generate
these cataclysmic eruptions.

That's something
that Krakatoa taught us.

And I think people only then
began to realize,

certainly scientists, that
a single volcanic eruption

could be so powerful as to
affect everyone on the planet.

NARRATOR:
Krakatoa erupted
in a Dutch colony,

but it was left
to British scientists

to document and analyze
its effect around the world.

Dr. Eleanor Highwood
is a meteorologist

at Reading University.

She is visiting
the Royal Society in London.

The society was established
in 1660

to promote the study
of natural phenomena.

And in January, 1884,
it set up a Krakatoa committee

to investigate the effects of
the eruption on a global scale.

Dr. Highwood studies changes

in climate
and atmospheric conditions

after large volcanic eruptions,
and the Royal Society

contains the most comprehensive
collection of material

devoted to Krakatoa.

Ah, are these for me?

Yes, they are.

These are the papers relating
to the Krakatoa Committee

and that's
the committee minutes.

Okay.

Thank you.

NARRATOR:
The Krakatoa Committee collated
in meticulous detail

documentation
from all over the world.

They collected newspaper
cuttings and ships' logs,

commissioned scientific reports

and even invited the public
to write in

with eyewitness accounts
of the effects of Krakatoa.

The result was the most
comprehensive report

about a volcanic eruption
of its time.

HIGHWOOD:
So this report starts
right from the start

of the volcanic eruption,
talking about the geology,

and then it...
it covers everything.

It goes through the sea waves.

There's time scales
for the atmospheric waves

passing round the globe
seven times,

and they're recorded everywhere
from Australia

right the way through
to Oxford--

really a global phenomenon.

And then an awful lot
on optical phenomena--

so, twilight effects
and sunsets, sunrises.

So, August the 29th,
from Japan--

"The sun was blood red
with jetlike smoke

passing across its face."

A month later or so,
Haslemere in Surrey--

"Light pink cirrus stripes
at sunset."

Buenos Aires,
the last days of September--

"The glows began.

"They lasted
one hour, 30 minutes.

The sun and moon
were occasionally colored."

And there's evidence here
that this continued

for four or five years.

This was really
the first evidence

that started to give
meteorologists a good idea

of how matter is transported
through the atmosphere.

NARRATOR:
These changes in the night sky,
within days of the eruption,

confirmed the existence of
high-speed, high-altitude winds

that transported
volcanic particles

through the atmosphere.

Today, these winds are known
as jet streams,

and their discovery
has played a pivotal role

in our understanding
of the weather.

NARRATOR:
The eruption of Krakatoa

propelled 11 cubic miles
of ash and dust into the air.

The heavier material
fell back to Earth,

but the tiniest particles
and sulfur dioxide gas

continued to rise
into the upper atmosphere.

Within days,
carried by jet streams,

this aerosol of tiny droplets
of sulfuric acid

veiled 70% of the world

and reflected solar radiation
back to space.

The result
was an overall cooling

of the earth's temperature
by half a degree Celsius.

But this process had
another impact on the globe--

it turned the skies...
blood red.

Housed in the archive
of London's Science Museum

is perhaps
the most vibrant example

of how Krakatoa affected
weather systems

on the other side of the world.

Curator Wendy Sheridan
is showing Dr. Highwood

the work of Victorian painter
William Ascroft.

Between September 1883
and 1886,

Ascroft sketched the changing
skies from Chelsea, West London.

The result is a series
of extraordinary oil pastels.

SHERIDAN:
This is the first panel of 72

of 533 sketches

that the artist William Ascroft
started sketching in 1883

when he noticed changes
in the colors of sunsets,

and he spent four years
in virtually the same place

sketching them,
timing each sketch

according to the changes
in the colors.

So this sequence shows
some particularly vivid colors--

some very strong red
and yellow coloration

through the whole
of the atmosphere.

So these really vivid reds
are a product of the fact

that there was aerosol
in the stratosphere

that had been transported
from the Krakatoa eruption,

and light passing through
that layer is scattered,

but it's scattered differently
depending upon what color it is.

And so we tend to see reds
more strongly

in sunsets and sunrises.

NARRATOR:
In an age
of black-and-white photography,

Ascroft's unique work acts
as a time-lapse account

of how Krakatoa,
thousands of miles away,

directly affected
the British skyline.

Over 120 years later, the story
of Krakatoa is far from over.

Although the eruption in 1883

almost completely destroyed
the entire volcano...

( explosion )

from its ashes,
a new one is emerging.

NARRATOR:
In the middle of the old caldera

lies Anak Krakatau--
the "child of Krakatoa"--

and it's active and growing.

Mike Rampino set foot on Anak
26 years ago.

He's now returning there
with Dr. Rudi Hadisantono

from the Volcanological Survey
of Indonesia.

Rudi accompanied him
on his first trip.

HADISANTONO:
This must grow so fast...

RAMPINO:
Very fast growth,

because there was
almost no forest here

when we were here
last time.

So, the... the lava flows
on the other side
of the island...

on this side of the island,
mostly jungle, but...

So this is the end
of the forest

and there is Anak.

Twice as big as it was
25 years ago

when I was here
with you.

Yeah, right.

NARRATOR:
In its short life, the volcano
has injured five tourists

and claimed the life of one--

hit by a lava bomb
exploding out of the crater.

There's now an official warning

advising against venturing
onto the island.

( men panting )

It's hard to climb.

Yeah, very steep.

( muffled explosion )

NARRATOR:
Anak Krakatau first revealed
itself in December 1927,

when it erupted violently

just beneath the surface
of the water.

( explosion )

Since then, it has been erupting
with increasing intensity

and growing rapidly,
at a rate of 15 feet every year.

Today, Anak is
over 2,600 feet high,

almost the same height Krakatoa
was in 1883.

It covers one and a quarter
square miles,

and between 1992 and 2000

ejected over 50 million tons
of material.

It appears that Krakatoa
is preparing itself

for another huge eruption.

RAMPINO:
Almost at the main
crater here.

HADISANTONO:
Yeah.
It's here.

Ah! Wow!
Wow!

We get on the crater.

Look at the size
of this.

What do you think
is the diameter?

It looks about 200 meters
across, 600 feet across.

Yeah, yeah, I think so.

Yeah.
Yeah.

And the fumaroles here.

Yeah.

I'm choking, though,
from the sulfur dioxide.

RAMPINO:
We're standing here on, on the
active volcano, Anak Krakatoa.

The old peak of Krakatoa
is behind us

and the old craters,
the eruption centers
for the 1883 eruption

were on this same line.

So that's why
volcanologists now think

that there was
a... a fault line,

a fissure that ran along
in a straight line here,

along which all
of these volcanic
centers were erupting.

( hammer clinking )

NARRATOR:
Anak Krakatau is being
carefully monitored

by the Volcanological Survey
of Indonesia,

and particular attention
is being paid

to the viscosity of the magma.

Yeah. What's
the temperature?

110.

110 Celsius.

And then this...

RAMPINO:
In the future, we would expect
that Anak Krakatoa

will build a larger
and larger volcano here,

but eventually things
going on inside the earth

will cause changes in the type
of magma that's coming up,

and the more viscous it is,

the more chance
of congealed magma sealing

or blocking the throat
of the volcano,

the more chance
of an explosive eruption.

NARRATOR:
Anak Krakatau will continue
to grow in size,

and it's a geological
inevitability

that sooner or later, processes
deep beneath the volcano

will cause Krakatoa to erupt
once more with paroxysmal force.

As we know from the tragic
events of the tsunami of 2004,

history repeats itself.

And for the people of Indonesia,

living in this geologically
unstable region,

the unpredictability of nature
is all too real.

RAMPINO:
The tragedy of Krakatoa
was it was located

in the middle
of the Sunda Strait

surrounded by water
and surrounded by coastlines

that were fairly densely
populated--

very low-lying coastlines,

unprotected in any way from...
from these kinds of waves.

NARRATOR:
The work of Schurmann,
Van der Stok

and the Royal Society
was an important step

in advancing modern science's
understanding

of how these geological
processes work.

But the challenge for the future

is not just to understand these
forces, but to predict them.

The hard lessons learned

are that the destructive power
of nature

should never be underestimated.

Krakatoa and the tsunami of 2004
remind us that we live

on an active planet
where the earth's crust

is constantly destroyed
and regenerated.

These immense geological forces
going on beneath us

reveal themselves
in unforeseen ways

and with terrible consequences.

To order Krakatoa on
videocassette or DVD,

call PBS Home Video
at 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

Captioned by
Media Access Group at WGBH
access.wgbh.org